Self-storing storm and screen combination



y 1951 R. L. BROWN ET AL 2,559,005

SELFSTORING STORM AND SCREEN COMBINATION Filed Aug. 5, 1948 INVENTORS J0fiavkllfirown, By fioyerEZekn e'r;

Patented July 3, 1951 UNITED SELF- STORING STORM AND SCREEN COMBINATIONRalphLf Brown and Rogef E. Zehner, "Anderson," I'Iid.

Application Augu'st 5, 1948,?SerialNo; 42,674

7 Claims. l

This invention relates to door and window units which include one'ormore screen'frames' and similar window frames, either of which,'.or someof each, may be stored away in awclosedcompartment in a portion of saidunit.

The object of this invention is to constructa combination unit door orwindow having "selfcontained screen andwindow frames which may beselectively used as desired.

A further "object'is tomake a unit such as mentioned aboveghaving aclosed compartment ina portion thereof'for storing the frames which-arenot being used.

A further object is to make a unit of the above type which is simple inconstruction and in' which it is easy to change the frames as may bedesired.

A further object isto include in the above unit three screen frames andthree similar window frames, any three of which may be installed. in theunit,while the other three are stored out of sight in a compartmentextending aproximately one quarter of the length of the unit.

Other and more-specific objects will appear in the'followingdetailed-description of a construction made in accordance with thisinvention as provided for in the last object mentioned above, havingreference to the accompanying drawing,

wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partly cut-away, of a unit constructed inaccordance with this invention,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view takenon the line 22 of Fig. 1,

Fig, *3 .is asimilar view showing the-screen frames in use insteadofthe' window frames,

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view taken on'theline 4-4 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevational View of a portion of the inner faceof a side rail showing the transverse groove for the removable receptionof a closure for a lower storage space and a support for operativelypositioned screens or window frames.

The unit shown in the drawing illustrates the present invention, whichhowever is not limited to the particular number of frames and theparticular details shown, but may include any other number of frames andan appropriately sized storage compartment for substantially half of thetotal number of frames.

The specific structure illustrated comprises a unit made of top andbottom rails l and 2 respectively, mortised into the side rails 3 and 4.

storing different frames from grooves in the unit.

A pair of grooves 5 and 0 run along the inside of the upperrail l anddown the inside of the side rails 3 and 4 for approximatelythree-quarters of their length, the inside edges of the side railsforthe remaining quarter of their length being cut out to the depth ofgrooves 5 and 6 to form astorage space 9 closed by two side panels 1 and8 set into and screwed to the side and bottom rails by screws It. Amoulding strip ll maybe used'to cover the heads of these screws.

Three screen frames l2 and three window frames l3 of similar size areadapted to slide in the grooves 5 and 6, two of the window frames havingwater shed lips I4 along their lower edges onthe outside of the-unitesshown. Aspacer bar !5, the width of the spacebetween-the grooves 5 andG, is mortised into the side rails at a-level aligned with the loweredgeof the third, i. e.

be. His locked in supporting position by-ascrew vI8 passing through thespacer-bar l5. The supporting rail lta-lso formsia top closure for thestore gespace 9.

The storagespaee 9 is provided with apairof spring spacers I9 and 20 ofsufiicient' strength to hold the three frames in storage-againstrattling. They may be rubber coated or plain metal leaf springs, and maybe shifted from one side' of the space to the-othe1-,-asmay beconvenientwhen opposite side examination of the drawing will reveal the:adva'nt'agesof the novel features of this construction. The screenframes and the storm window frames are kept handy in the same unit, andwill not get lost or become dirty or damaged, as might be the case ifthey are separately put away. They are always matched and obviate thenecessity of matching the right frame for the right unit, when severalunits are used.

The change from one type of frame to the other is very easily performed.One of the panels may be removed to facilitate the change over. However,the change may be made without removal of either panel. It is onlynecessary to remove the screw 3 to unlock the supporting rail I6 so itmay be slid from under the vacant groove 5 or 6, while still supportingthe frames in the other groove, then the unit may be turned up-side-downand the frames in the storage space 9 can be guided into the vacantgroove one at a time. Then the supporting rail I6 is moved over thethird frame, past its normal position in the unit until it uncovers theother groove, whereupon the unit is righted again, and the frames in theother groove may then be guided into the storage space 9 one at a time,allowing each frame to move its upper edge toward the other panel beforestarting the next frame to slide along side of it. When the last of thethree frames is slid into the storage space against the pressure of thesprings 19 and 29 acting through the other frames, the supporting railis slid back into its normal place covering the storage space, and thescrew I8 is fixed to lock it in place.

As already mentioned, the number of frames used may be altered and otherobvious modifications in the details of structure may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of this invention, as defined in theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A storm and screen unit comprising end and side rails, means on saidrails for supporting one or more superposed screen frames between aportion of said side rails, and storage means for the same number ofsimilarl sized storm frames between the remaining portion of said siderails, the vertical edges of the frames in the storage means at theinner faces of the side rails and being facewise to each other, therebeing a passageway between the superposed and the stored portions of theframes, said supporting means normally closing said passageway, wherebyto provide a self-contained replaceable storm and screen framecombination.

2. A storm and screen unit as defined in claim 1, wherein saidsupporting means includes a groove around the inside of the upper andside rails, and the storage means includes a storage space co-extensivewith the lateral limits of said groove, whereby the frames are slidablefrom said groove into said space and vice'versa.

3. A storm and screen unit as defined in claim 1, wherein saidsupporting means includes a pair of spaced grooves running around theinside of the upper and side rails, and the storage means includes aspace co-extensive with the lateral limits of said frame-receivinggrooves, whereby the frames are slidable between said grooves and 5. Astorm and screen unit as defined in claim 4, wherein said supportingmeans further includes a spacer bar between said side rails havingsubstantially the same width as the space between said pairs offrame-receiving grooves, and being fixed contiguous to the supportingrail and between the pairs of frame-receiving grooves, and means on saidspacer bar for locking said supporting rail in normal position.

6. A storm and screen unit as defined in claim 1, wherein saidsupporting means includes a groove around the inside of the upper andside rails, a horizontal supporting rail slidable to project from theside rails at either side between said portions and leave anopening ateither side in line with opposed frame-receiving grooves of the siderails, and the storage means includes a storage space co-extensive withthe lateral limits of said groove with which the grooves of the siderails communicate, whereby the frames are slidable from said groove intosaid space and vice versa.

7. A storm and screen unit comprising a rec-. tangular frame includingparallel top and bottom rails, and side rails, respectively, said topand side rails having a pair of spaced aligned framereceiving grooves atthe inside thereof, the grooves at the sides terminating in spacedrelation to the bottom rail, a horizontal spacer bar fixed between saidside rails having substantially the same width as the space between saidpairs of frame-receiving grooves, a horizontal supporting rail slidablymounted between the side rails at the bottom of the spacer bar andmovable into and out of the side rails at the opposite faces of theframeat the lower ends of the framereceiving grooves to form a storage spacein the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in thefileof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 292,789 Burdick Feb. 5, 18841,221,478 Sajtos Apr. 3, 1917 1,845,653 Fassett Feb. 16, 1932 2,342,614Leacy Feb. 22, 1944 2,467,511 Fleet Apr. 19, 1949

